Machine for making closures for bottles and the like.



PATENTED MAY 19, 1908. PAINTER.

No. 887,838. W

MACHINE FOR MAKING GLOSURES FOR BOTTLES AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24, 1905. RENEWED OUT. 3, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 887,838. PATENTED MAY 19, 1908.

W. PAINTER.

MAG HINE FOR MAKING GLOSURES FOR BOTTLES AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILEDMAY 24. 1905. RENEWED 001a, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Elven/L 02" l AM P INTER To all whom it may concern."

UNITED sT TES PATENT), OFFICE.

WILLIAM INTER, 0F BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, AssIGNoR TO CROWN coax AND SEALCOMPANY or BALTIMORE CITY, or BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

' MACHINE FOR Maxine cLos'tmEs FOR BOTTLES Am) THEILIKEJ No. 887,838. IApplication filed May 24, 1905, Serial No. 262,049;

Specification of Letters Patent. latented May 19, mos.

Renewed October 3, 1907. Serial No. 395,768.

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM/ PAINT R, a citizen of the United States,residing at Baltimore, Mar land, have invented certain ne and usefuImprovements 1n- Machines fer Making Closures for Bottles and the Like,of which the following is a specification.

In certain-applications for patent filed by me June 6, 1902, (Serial No.110,535) and September 29, 1902, (Serial No. 125,180) I disclosedcertain novel methods or processes of manufacturing bottle closures,wherelnla special feature involves the interposition of a' suitablefusible protecting amd' inding me dium between a' suitable metallic capand a suitable sealing gasket or packing; then properly heating the cap,gasket and said medium, and meantime subjecting the whole. toappropriate pressure,.and while still'u-nder such pressure, cooling thecompleted closure.

- My present application discloses certain novel mechanism, both indetail and in organizatio'n, as devised by me for the manu facture ofbottle closures in harmony with my said novel method, and with specialview to economically producing closures involv ing sundry'novelcharacteristics ofsubstantial value. A reliably firm union of the metalwith the packing is assured, which contributes to substantial economy,because-the packing, whether in the form of rings or disks, can be notonly thinner, but of less diameter than heretofore, and such'open pitsor holes as are common to cork are well closed next to the metal, andthe cork itself, although quitewell condensed has highly effectiveresiliency. Liquid can seldom if ever undue inward bulging.

After a detailed description of my present invention in connection withthe accompanying twosheets of drawings, the several features deemednovel will be duly specified in the several clauses of claim hereuntoannexed, it being understood that the machine here illustrated isadapted to. operate in connection with closures of the well known Crowncork system.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l illustrates, mainly in plan view butpartially in section an organization embodying my present invention.Fig.2 is a. vertical section of the parts shown in'Fig. 1 onytheirregular line (but on a somewhat reduced scale) and alsocertainoverlying parts, some in side or edge view, and others 1nsection. Figs. 3

-bessive positions, illustrate. an appropriate pressure. block with'aplunger and a die, which cooperate in effecting a tem orary mechani-caunion of each presser bloc with a 'cap and its packing, and also thedesired compression of the contents of thecap. Fig. 5 is 'a side view ofa presser block and the end .of the arm on which it is carried. Fig. 6,in section o'nlin'e 'y-y Fig. 1,: illustratesa cork portion of the frameof the machine, and an overlying plate or cover, not shown in Figs. 1

or 2. 'tical cross section a heating apparatus, and

holding a filled closure in proper position to be heated. Fig. 8illustrates in side view, a cam wheel and a bell crank lever carrying aclearer for detaching finished closures from the presser blocks. Fig. 9is a detail view of the clearer for releasing caps from the presserblocks.

Believing it will be conducive to a prompt comprehension, to firstindicate in a general way the salient parts of the machine and its modeof o eration, I will state, specially referring to i 1, that a fixedtable 1 receives metal caps already provided with a suitable interiorbinding medium, an attendant arranges them open side up and slides themupon an exposed portion of a continuously revolving feed table 2,partially covered, as at 4 and 5, so as to afford near the periphery of:the table a curved race-way or channel-3. The caps are frictionallycarried through this above regardless of its form, (11. e., sometimesring shaped, but generally in'disk form,)

at 25 and delivers'the packing at 9, where a cork plunger forces itdownward into an underlying cap still within the custody of the starwheel 7, which then carries the filled caps one by one in a circularpath beneath a Fig. 7 illustrates in elevation and veralso in side "viewan overlying presser block channel until they reach its end at acircular and 4, on an enlarged scale, and in two suc- 4 carrier and itshub 01' journal, an underlying 10. This carrier receives, the packingfrom been assured. The d1e being of slightly less.

diameter than the caps, the flange of each is peripherally reduced andmade to tightly engage with a presser block, and when release from thedie, it is carried by the presser-block.

with the binding medium and packing more or less heavily compressed,because of the firm (but temporary) mechanical union of the cap andpresser block. The timing table by its intermittent movement firstpresents eac presser block and the closure thereon to a heatingapparatus at 41, for fusing the binding medium, and from thence, to thecooling apparatus at 43' and after having been properly cooled and thebinding medium hardened,the finished closures or crowns areautomatically released from the presser blocks by a clearer at 49.

Now as to a more specific description, it will be seen in Figs. 1 and 2that the feed table 1 is continuously rotated by way of a vertical shaft55, bevel gears 54 and 53, a horizontal shaft 52, bevel gear 51, and anoverlying horizontal bevel gear on a spindle pendent from the table andcarried in a hanger at 'a portion 47 of the frame. The central cover 4of the table, and the curved cover plate 5 with the intervening channel3 have already been referred to. For working upon plain crowns thesurface of the table may be of metal, hard paper, or wood, but fordecorated crowns it will sometimes be desirable to have a softercovering, such as leather, to avoid scratching the decorations.

The star wheel 7 has multiple functions, and hence it is difficult tospecially designate it in harmony with its duties. It not only takesunfilled caps one by one from the feed table and carries them to thecork feeder 10, but it also operates with its teeth 58 as a sprocket orgear in driving said feeder, step by step, and still further in likemanner with its pockets 6 delivers filled caps to the die, and drivesthe timing table. The star wheel shaft 8 is intermittently driven by itsworm gear 56, actuated from the adjacent continuously driven shaft 66,by means of a cam 57 having a spline or worm which operatively engagesWith the worm gear long enough to impart required movement to the starwheel, said spline being so shaped, (i. a, straight and'curved,) as toaiford the required rest during the remainder of its own rotation in amanner Well known. These parts are similar and held down by a clampscrew 22 whichalso controls a cover 61 which is not indicated in Figs. 1and 2, and may or may not be used.

The cork wheel is composed of a heavy bot-' tom plate 19 provided with arabbeted flange, and an attached thin top plate which rests upon thebearing plate 21. This top plate is 1 rovided with an annular series ofcircular oles 20, which register with corresponding holes 18 in thebottom plate 19 whenever in the course of rotation they register with asimilar single hole 24 in the bear? ing plate 21, at which point thecork plunger 9 erforms its j .--dut Except at this one po1nt, thebearing p ate serves as the bottom for all the holes 20, and enablesthem to serve as pockets for packing disks delivered thereto from theoverlying cork tube 25, Fig. 2. This cork tube is vertically slitted atone side and is provided with a weight 25 having a projected fingerpiece for enabling it to be lifted from the tube when a fresh supply ofcork is needed, said weight assuring a proper delivery of corks from thebottom of the pile in the tube, one by one, into each pocket 20 as itpasses below.

Adjacent to the tube 25 there is a hinged finger, 67 connected with anelectric signal (not shown) for announcing any failure of delivery ofcork to a pocket, but this constitutes no part of my present invention.At each hole in the bottom plate, there is a pendent boss or flange 59,serving as a gear tooth for engagement by the star wheel as indicated at60, Fig. 1.

The conveyer or timing table 31 is rotated step by step on its pintle 32on a hanger 33 and is provided with a series of radial arms 30,

strongly'hinged, projecting from its periphery, and each normallymaintained in an elevated inclined position by a spring 62. Each of saidarms carries below its outer end a pendent presser block 29,frusto-conical in form, larger at its face than at the arm, and ofappropriate size to properly enter a filled cap and bear upon the corkdisk or packing and to be itself firmly engaged by the flange of the capafter the packing has been compressed, thus enabling the presser blockto maintain desired pressure on the packing until the finished closureis finally released therefrom. As already indicated the presser blockarms 30 also serve as teeth engagedby the star wheel in actuating thetiming table.

The cork plunger 9 is mounted on a lateral I arm 11 projecting frombeneath "a slide 12 (in guide bearing 13 on cross bar 14), which sensesalso carries the presser block plunger 26, all

, upon which the simultaneously vertically reciprocated by means of astud 17 in a cam groove 16 in a cam wheel 15 on the shaft 66, saidgroove being so shaped as to cause the'plungers to operate when the corkwheel, the star wheel and the timing table are at rest.

The presser block lunger 26 cooperates with the underlyin die 27 (on bedplate 28) containing a die b ock 34 which serves as a slidable bottomfor the die, and hasapendent spindle 37 within a spiral spring havingits thrust hearing at the top against a collar, and at the bottom on atubular screwthreaded support or plug 39 (ina hanger 38 which containsthe lower end of the spindle and also an underlying sto screw 40.

It will now be obvious t at the organization of the presser block pluner, the presser blocks with their arms and t 0 die, is such, that when afilled ca has been delivered to the die, as shown in i 3 beneath apresser.

block, the lunger Wil descend, force the block into t e cap, and driveit into the die and firmly lock the cap 36 to the block with the packingproperly compressed, and that the extent of condensation can bepredetermined by an ad'ustment of the stop screw block spindle abuts.The spring in yielding, assures a gradual application of pressure, andin some cases it may be relied upon for limitation, but its primefunction is to enable the die block to act as an ejector for promptlyreleasing a cap and presser block from the die, and it bemg adjustableits inevitable weakening can be compensated. The extent to whichthe capmay be forced into the die is also positively controlled by the stopscrew 40, thus enabling variations as to the contraction of the flangeof a ca and also as to the'tenacity of its union wit a presser block.

As to the heating apparatus 41, it is to be understood that it may bewidely varied without departure from the'main feature of my invention.The heat may be derived from electricity, steam, or combustion eitherwithin or flaming from the heater; but however heated the organizationof the heater with the timing table should be such as to appropriatelyheat the caps on the loaded presser blocks during their progressivemovement, and in each case appropriate to special conditions involved;as for instance, some packing and some form of binding medium, and somematerials or compounds thereof, will require more heat than others, orless heat with varied extent of exposure, and plain crowns may be safelyexposed to heating conditions which might be ruinous to decoratedcrowns.

AS here shown, specially in Fig. 7, the heater 41 consists of ahorizontal flat topped chamber 42 supplied with gas and air (on theBunsen plan) by way of the vertical pipe 1 43 rovided with a suitablesleeve for control ing the air mixture, and with a suitable cock forgraduating the supply of gas or cutting it off. The flat burner top 44has suitable jet apertures 45. A pilot burner (or ready lighter) 65"withits jets at 63 receives gaseous mixture from a small chamber 64concentric with the main burner. For maintaining a proper control of theheat and the adjacent air currents induced thereby, the burner hasadjacent vertical side walls which, while permitting more ,or less airto freely rise from below the burner, also guard mosphere at normaltemperature before they are released from the presser blocks. Formeeting all requirements however, an'artificial cooling operation isimportant. The acking is duite heavily compressed, and air argely excuded from the cap, and hence with a heavy solid binding medium to befused or softened, or one containing volatile matter, considerable heatwould have been needed, and if such heat were not thereafter promptlychecked or reduced, the packing or said medium or both, might beinjured, and

should the release of the closures from the presser blocks precede aproper hardening of the'binding factor, and a proper cooling of theacking, the latter in ex andingfrom a con ensed condition might argelyderange the union of metal and packing. As here shown, the coolerconsists of a curved pipe 43 on an arm 44 and provided with vertical jettubes 45 in the path traversedby the crown laden presser blocks. Air,preferably under considerable pressure, is delivered to the cooler, sothat on emerging in small-jets it will'promptly expand and induce a lowtemperature while directly impin 'ng against the crowns when at rest, aswell as during their movement.

In view of the falling tendency of cold air, it will be found sometimesadvisable to provide an additional set of cooling jets located above orat one side of the path for delivering air inwardly or downwardlyu onthe crowns and blocks, which latter are iable to get unduly heated. Toguard a ainst such undue heating, the presser bloc s may be providedwith cores of wood, or other good non conductor of heat, the rims beingof hard metal sufiiciently smooth and strong to withstand the heavy grasof the.cap flanges, and admit of ready reiiease.

The releasing of the caps from the presser blocks may be variouslyefiected without departure from my invention. The clearer 49, e asindicated inFigs. 8 and 9, is intermittingly actuated from thehorizontal shaft 66 by a cam Wheel 48, and a bell crank lever 46 pivotedat 47, the lever at its upper end having a roller stud within anappropriate cam groove, (shown in dotted lines,) assuring the propervertical reciprocation of the clearer, which overlies the edge of acrown on any presser block standing at rest at the point of clearance. I

Having thus described my invention I claim, 1. In an organizationforuniting the metallic member of a bottle or like closure with itscompressible packing having a fusible material interposed between it andsaid metallic member, means for engaging the packing to press the sameagainst the metallic member with the fusible material interposed,

and means for subjecting said parts to a change in temperature, saidchange in temperature being maintained while the said packing ismaintained under compression,

substantially as described.

2. In an organization for uniting the metallic member of a bottle orlike closure with its compressible packing with fusible materialinterposed, heating means and means for engaging the packing to hold itunder compression While the closure is cooling, substantially asdescribed.

' 3. In an organization for uniting the compressible packing with themetal caps of'bottle closures, means for heating the metal caps with thecontained packing and interposed fusible material, and means forsubjecting the packing to compression, and during said compressionsubjecting the metal cap to a cooling action, substantially asdescribed.

4. In an organization for making bottle closures of the cap variety, thecombination, substantially as hereinbefore described, of means forautomatically assembling the metal caps and packing, means for heatingthe caps,-and means for subjecting the packing to pressure to hold it inproper position against the cap and the interposed fusible materialwhile cooling, substantially as described.

5. In an organization for making bottle closures of the cap variety, theconstruction substantially as hereindescribed, consisting in means forautomatically assembling the caps, the packing .and the interposedmaterial, means for heating the parts to fuse the binding material, andmeans for holding the packing under pressure within the cap while theparts are cooling and. the binding material is hardening, substantiallyas described.

6. In combination, means for heating the assembled closure members andmeans for ressing the said members together and holdmg the said membersunder this pressure and while cooling, the said means of compressionbeing movable. to convey the closure while its members are maintainedunder pressure, substantially. as described.

7. In an organization for making bottle closures of the cap variety, thecombination substantially as hereinbefore described, of means forheating caps containing a compressible packing and an interposed bindingmedium, means for maintaining pressure thereon during the heatingoperation, said means entering the. cap and engaging the compressiblepacking, and means for automatically controlling. the caps during andafter the heating operation.

8. In an organization of the character indicated, the combinationsubstantially as hereinbefore described, of means for heating capshaving compressible material therein, means for artificially coolingthem, and means for maintaining the contents of the caps undercompression during the heating and cooling operations.

9. In an organization for uniting the metallic member of a bottle orlike closure with .its packing, means for pressing the packing into saidmetallic member, and means for subjecting the said parts to-heat whilemaintained under pressure, substantially as described.

10. In combination, means for pressing together the members of a bottleor like closure, means for first subjecting said members to heat whilemaintained under pressure and then to cooling influences whilemaintained under pressure, substantially as described.

11. In combination, .means for pressing the members of a bottle or likeclosure together and for holding the said members under this'pressure,means for heating the members while under said pressure, the said meansfor compression being movable to convey the closure while its membersare maintained under pressure, substantially as described.

12. In combination, a heating a paratus, a conveyer having means for hoding the members of a bottle closure together under pressure, saidconveyer being arranged to carry the closure While its members aremaintained under pressure to said heating apparatus and to carry thesaid members maintained under pressure away therefrom,

substantially as described.

13. In combination, heating apparatus, a conveyer having means forholding the members of the closure together under pressure, saidconveyer being arranged to carry the under pressure to said heatingapparatus and to carry the said members maintained under pressure awaytherefrom, and means for discharging the closure from the said conveyer,substantially as described.

14. In combination, a pressure plunger,

closure while its members are maintained means for feeding the closuresbeneath the same to be pressed, and a movable pressure maintainingconveyer to carry the compressed closure from beneath the plunger whilemaintaining it under pressure, substantially as described.

15. In combination, a pressure plunger,

means for feeding the closures beneath the same to be pressed, aconveying device movable beneath the plunger and adie for attaching theclosures under pressure to said conveying device, substantially asdescribed.

16. In combination, a pressure plunger, a conveying device provided withpresser blocks arranged to move over the closure to be pressed and underthe pressure plunger, and a die for crimping the flange of the closureto the presser blocks for attaching the same thereto and maintaining themembers of the closure under pressure, substantially as described.

17. In combination, a pressure plunger, a conveying device movablebeneath the same and over the closure to be pressed, said conveyingdevice carrying the closure under pressure from beneath the pressureplunger, and a heating device to which the closure is conveyed whilemaintained under pressure,

' substantially as described.

18. In combination, a pressure plunger, a conveying deviceprovided withfrusto-conical presser blocks arranged to move beneath the pressureplunger and over the closures to be pressed and a die for crim ing theflange of each closure on to a presser block, substantially asdescribed.

19. In combination, a pressure plunger, a cooperating die having aspring controlled die block therein and a conveying device provided witha presser block, whereby said pressure block with a closure underpressure will be released from the die and carried away therefrom,substantially as described.

20. In combination, a pressure plunger, a star wheel having pockets orspaces between its arms for carrying crowns beneath the pressureplunger, a conveyer and presser blocks carried thereby to receive thecrowns under pressure, the said conveyer being operated by the movementsof the star wheel, substantially as described.

21. In combination, a pressure plunger, a

star wheel, a conveyer having pressure maintaining means, arms ontheconveyer for holding said pressure maintaining means, said arms meshingWith the pockets of the star wheel, substantially as described.

22. In combination, a die on which the closures are placed, and pressuremaintaining means on to which the closure is pressed by the action ofthe die, to be held under pressure, substantially as described.

23. In combination, a presser block for holding a crown closure with itspacking disk under pressure, and means for placing the crownunderpressure thereon.

24. In combination, a presser block for holding a crown with its packingdisk under pressure, and means for placing the crown thereon underpressure, consisting of a plunger and a die, substantially as described.

25. In combination, a presser block for holding a crown with its packingdisk under pressure, a die and a plunger, said plunger and presser blockbeing movable towards and from the die, substantially as described.

26. In combination, a presser block having a peripheral surface adaptedto enable a crown to be gripped thereon under pressure, and means forconnecting the crown with the presser block.

27. In combination, a device for holding a crown with its packingdiskunder pressure,-

and means for placing the crown with its disk carried by said holdingdevice and maintaining the contents of the crown under pressure whileuniting them, substantially as described.

28. A machine for making closures for bottles and the like, comprisingmeans for uniting the crowns with their disks and for holding them underpressure during that operation.

29. A machine for making closures for bottles and the like comprisingmeans for uniting the crowns with their packing disks and for conveyingand holding them under pressure during the uniting operation.

In testimony whereof, I ailix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM PAINTER.

Witnesses: I

HowARnD. ADAMS, WM. 0. W001).

